Top Korean Skincare Products for Combination Skin

About four months ago after my overseas holiday trips, my skin was suffering bouts of pimples, dullness, oily and dry splotches (yes, at the same time. Argh.). The weather change & hectic flight schedules surely were causing an uproar of my skin health.
Following my Seoul trip in July, I switched to some Korean skincare products to give a boost to my usual skincare routine. I was hopeful that the KBeauty stuff can save my skin a little.

Guess what? They did. And here I am, reporting back to you guys, with an updated skincare routine suitable for skin that is stressed, dehydrated, blemish-prone OR for YOU who have normal skin but are combating the changing season right now! (Think hot to hazy to rainy & humid erratic Singapore weather, yayyy.) 

Heading to Korea? Bring these Korean Skincare home!

For ladies aged between 20-35, with sensitive/combination skin and living in hot & humid climates, I recommend these products if you happen to be planning a trip to Korea.

Don't make the mistake of lugging back too many newly-launched skincare products launched in November/December! 

Those are mainly for Fall/Winter. You may find them effective when you're there in Korea, but you may be dismayed once you use the same stuff when you get back home!

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1. Mamonde Rose Water
Pretty, simple & sweet pink bottle contains a very pleasant, mild rose scented toner water. Very soothing to the skin and immediately calms the skin when you pat some on with a cotton pad. It hydrates and prep the skin for your next skincare step.

 

  

2. Nature Republic Aloe Vera Gel

By now you'd have already knew, aloe vera gel is great for its multi-purpose use. You may use it to sooth sun burns, an inflamed pimple, or it can work as a light moisturiser for the body and on sensitive or very oily skin. You can even apply a thick layer and leave on for 20 minutes - works like a hydrating mask!

There are endless brands of aloe vera gel in Korea to choose from. One of the most popular and effective ones has to be from Nature Republic. Many tourists used to lug these packs home as gifts for friends & family. Now, many countries out of Korea have better access to this product, thanks to online shopping. It is also available in Singapore Sasa stores at about SGD10 per jar, I think.

3. Care Zone Deep Clean Gentle Peeling Gel 

I accidentally discovered this product when I was going through my loots from Seoul in July, it came to me as a free gift after purchasing a certain amount at Olive Young. It comes in clean white packaging. Didn't expect a tiny tube to work wonders on my skin! It is like your usual peeling gels, where you rub a dollop onto the surface of your skin and soon, you find flaky bits that look like dead skin coming off from your skin. I read that those are not dead skin cells nor dirt & grime...they are by-product of the gel when it is applied onto skin. (I couldn't be sure of this).Anyway, it works for me. My skin is brighter, well-exfoliated yet not drying/itchy/over-sensitised and feels clean and plumped! I use this once a week, follow by a hydrating mask.

4. May Coop Cleansing Mousse

I didn't purchase this myself in Korea, it was shipped to me from Korea for review. I also did not catch it on sale in those beauty roadshops at Myeongdong. Please let me know if you see it! For more details/review of this product, read my past post.

5. Amaranth Messaline Ultra Hydrating Cream

This came in the same beauty box as above (May coop Cleansing Moose). Read more here.

6. Sulwhasoo Essential Rejuvenating Eye Cream**

The reason why I typed two asterisks (**) is not because this is an excellent, not-to-be-missed product. On the contrary, I am hesitating at this point whether to include this high-end eye cream on this list of otherwise, rather affordable skincare products. 

You see the "group photo" in the beginning of this blog post? - That was taken three months ago when I just started on the eye cream. At that point, it was good. I find my eye areas well-moisturised and was looking forward to see results as claimed by the brand- reduce wrinkles/fine lines/dark eye circles/puffiness. Quite a huge claim eh? Almost cover ALL the skin problems around the eyes a girl will face in her course of life right? Sadly, fast forward three months, my eye areas look almost the same as I first started application. The skin is indeed more moisturised than say, when I did not apply any eye cream at all. But for a product of this price point, I expect slightly better results. In spite of this, I still consider Sulwhasoo a good brand, one that uses high-quality ingredients in their products. I tried other ranges before, and the results were stunning. One example of such product is their First Care Activating Serum, shown below.

Try First Care Activating Serum instead of Essential Rejuvnating Eye Cream!

Women in their early twenties wishing to try Sulwhasoo may still consider said entry-level eye cream; I feel it may suit them better. Buy Sulwhasoo products at duty-free shops in Korea- you'll get to enjoy significant savings compared to purchasing them at local Singapore counters.





Hope you find this post useful, especially for those planning a holiday to Korea this year end! If you're not going there, try to search on Qoo10 for some of your favourite Kbeauty products! For those of you travelling overseas this winter, share with me where you're off to? :)